File management apparatus, recording apparatus, and recording program

ABSTRACT

A file management apparatus includes: a display unit; an operation unit; a storage which stores first files movable to a portable apparatus and second files unmovable to the portable apparatus; an interface to which the portable apparatus is connected and through which the first files are moved between the storage and the portable apparatus; and a control unit which displays a list of the first files on the display unit when the operation unit operates a first operation and displays a list of the second files on the display unit when the operation unit operates a second operation and which generates a graphical user interface to display an operation button, which is used to move the first files to the portable apparatus, on the display unit, when the portable apparatus is connected to the interface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a file management apparatus, arecording apparatus, and a recording program, and more particularly, toa recording apparatus capable of simultaneously recording a televisionbroadcast in two kinds of video files: a reduced video data file movableto a portable apparatus and a standard video data file unmovable to theportable apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, a television broadcast has been digitized, and arecording apparatus has been changed from a video tape recorder to ahard disk recorder or a personal computer (hereinafter, abbreviated to a“PC”). Since a digital television broadcast has a very large amount ofinformation of video data, a hard disk recorder or a PC recordingapparatus reduces the amount of data without damage to image quality byusing a video compression technique.

In particular, in the PC recording apparatus, it is easy to improveusability by advancing a software function since a software version caneasily be updated.

A related art describing a technique similar to the technique accordingto an embodiment of the invention is disclosed in Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 2003-116104.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A recording apparatus using a PC manufactured and sold by the applicantuses a hardware transcoder simultaneously producing both a video file(standard video data file) with a general resolution and a reduced videodata file which can be reproduced by a portable apparatus, when arecording apparatus records a television broadcast, in order to improvea processing capability and convenience. Until now, a reduced video filehad to be generated from a standard video file by once again performingreduction transcoding or reduction re-encoding. Therefore, for users whowanted to view a recorded content with a portable game console or aportable video player, re-converting the video file was very troublesomeand it took time to re-convert the video file. By using a hardwaretranscoder, a reduced video data file usable in a portable apparatus isgenerated as soon as the recording is complete. Therefore, it is veryconvenient for users.

The fact that two kinds of video files are simultaneously produced whenrecording the same television broadcast means that two program fileswith the same content are produced. Therefore, if a program file movableto a portable apparatus is not clearly specified by a given method, itis apparent that confusion is caused to the user.

In the light of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a novel filemanagement apparatus, a novel recording apparatus, and a novel recordingprogram capable of selecting and operating a video file correctlymovable to a portable apparatus without confusing a user.

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a filemanagement apparatus including: a display unit; an operation unit; astorage which stores first files movable to a portable apparatus andsecond files unmovable to the portable apparatus; an interface to whichthe portable apparatus is connected and through which the first filesare moved between the storage and the portable apparatus; and a controlunit which displays a list of the first files on the display unit whenthe operation unit operates a first operation and displays a list of thesecond files on the display unit when the operation unit operates asecond operation and which generates a graphical user interface todisplay an operation button, which is used to move the first files tothe portable apparatus, on the display unit, when the portable apparatusis connected to the interface.

When two kinds of files distinguished from each other are displayed onthe display unit and the file movable to the portable apparatus isselected, a graphical user interface used to move the file to theportable apparatus is generated.

According to the embodiment of the invention, it is possible to providea novel file management apparatus, a novel recording apparatus, and anovel recording program capable of selecting and operating a video filecorrectly movable to a portable apparatus without confusing a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the outer appearance of a recordingapparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of arecording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the functions of the recordingapparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the format of an MPEG-4 datastream with a QVGA size.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a content table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a screen forming process executed bya GUI generation unit in a recording monitor.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording monitor screendisplayed on a display unit.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are schematic diagrams illustrating a film roll regionvaried during recording.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a video list screen displayedon the display unit.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the video list screendisplayed on the display unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the outer appearance of a recordingapparatus according to an embodiment.

A recording apparatus 101 includes a main body 102 having a liquidcrystal display, a keyboard 103, and a mouse 104. A general PC with anintegrated liquid crystal display serves as the recoding apparatus 101.Of course, the recording apparatus 101 may not be integrated with aliquid crystal display.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of therecording apparatus 101.

In the recording apparatus 101 which is a general PC, a CPU 202, a ROM203, a RAM 204, a non-volatile storage 205 such as a hard disk device, avideo interface 206 also called a graphics card, an audio interface 207,and an operation unit 208 which is a pointing device such as a keyboardand a mouse are connected to a bus 201.

A display unit 209 which is a liquid crystal display is connected to thevideo interface 206.

Speakers 210 are connected to the audio interface 207.

A television tuner card 211 is also connected to the bus 201. Thetelevision tuner card 211 is provided with a tuner unit 212 and atranscoder 213.

The tuner unit 212 has a tuned circuit receiving digital TV broadcastwaves and a demodulation circuit demodulating digital video signals anddigital sound signals from the digital TV broadcast waves therein.

The tuner unit 212 receives the digital TV broadcast waves via anantenna 214 and outputs digital video stream data conforming to theMPEG-2 standard of 1920 dots×1080 lines which is called a “full HDsize.”

The transcoder 213 converts MPEG-2 stream data with the full HD sizeinto digital video stream data conforming to the MPEG-4 standard in realtime without performing a decoding process to output two kinds of MPEG-4standard video stream data with different resolutions. At this time, thetwo kinds of MPEG-4 standard video stream data are subjected toencryption processing.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating the recordingapparatus 101. For facilitating description, description of a sound ofthe video data will be omitted.

The PC serving as the recording apparatus 101 has a function of therecording apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 3 by installing an applicationprogram allowing a general OS and the PC to function as the recordingapparatus 101 so that the OS and the application program operate.

The tuner unit 212 receives the digital TV broadcast waves via theantenna 214 and performs a demodulation process to output the MPEG-2stream data with the full HD size.

The MPEG-2 stream data is supplied to an AVC transcoding unit 301, aQVGA transcoding unit 302, and a GUI generation unit 303.

The AVC transcoding unit 301 which is a standard transcoding unitperforms transcoding and encryption processing on the input MPEG-2stream data with the full HD size to generate the MPEG-4 stream datawith the full HD size, when the AVC transcoding unit 301 receives arecording instruction from a control unit 304.

The QVGA transcoding unit 302 which is a reduction transcoding unitperforms transcoding and encryption processing on the input MPEG-2stream data with the full HD size to generate MPEG-4 steam data with a“Quarter VGA” size, that is, a reduced size of 320 dots×240 lines whichis a quarter of VGA (640 dots×480 lines), when the QVGA transcoding unit302 receives a recording instruction from the control unit 304.Moreover, when performing a transcoding process, the QVGA transcodingunit 302 generates still image data with the QVGA size of a general JPEGformat for each GOP (Group of Pictures: 0.5 second and 15 frames) of theMPEG-4 stream data, allows the still image data to be included in theMPEG-4 stream data, and outputs the MPEG-4 stream data.

The MPEG-4 stream data with the full HD size, which is a recording videodata stream output by the AVC transcoding unit 301, and the MPEG-4stream data with the QVGA size, which is a reduced video data streamoutput by the QVGA transcoding unit 302, are transmitted to a storage205 via a file system 305 installed in the OS to form a video file.

The MPEG-4 stream data with the full HD size is transmitted to an AVCfile storage unit 306 installed in the storage 205 to form an AVC videofile which is a standard video data file.

The MPEG-4 stream data with the QVGA size is transmitted to a QVGA filestorage unit 307 installed in the storage 205 to form a QVGA video filewhich is a reduced video data file.

The control unit 304 issues a recording instruction to the AVCtranscoding unit 301, the QVGA transcoding unit 302, and the file system305 according to recording reservation information (not shown) stored inthe operation unit 208 and the storage 205.

The control unit 304 gives a recording instruction to the AVCtranscoding unit 301 and the QVGA transcoding unit 302 to start thetranscoding process.

According to the recording instruction, the control unit 304 newlygenerates an AVC video file in the AVC file storage unit 306 for thefile system 305, newly generates a QVGA video file in the QVGA filestorage unit 307, and additionally stores a recording formed by matchinga file name of the AVC video file and a file name of the QVGA video fileto program information obtained from the recording reservationinformation for the content table 308.

The AVC video file stored in the file system 305 is subjected to anencryption decoding process and a decoding process by an AVC decoder 309which is a standard video decoder. A video data stream output by the AVCdecoder 309 is transmitted to a GUI generation unit 303.

Likewise, the QVGA video file stored in the file system 305 is subjectedto an encryption decoding process and a decoding process by the QVGAdecoder 310. A video data stream output by the QVGA decoder 310 istransmitted to the GUI generation unit 303.

The QVGA decoder 310 also decodes the MPEG-4 stream data with the QVGAsize transmitted from the QVGA transcoding unit 302 during therecording. Moreover, the QVGA decoder 310 also transmits the still imagedata buried in the QVGA video file to the GUI generation unit 303, whenperforming the decoding.

The GUI generation unit 303 forms screen data to display a GUI(Graphical User Interface) and a video on the display unit 209.

The GUI generation unit 303 delivers the MPEG-2 stream data output bythe tuner unit 212 to the display unit 209 without change under to thecontrol of the control unit 304, when a user views a television withoutrecording. In a case of the recording, the MPEG-2 stream data output bythe tuner unit 212 is delivered as a monitor screen without change tothe display unit 209 and the still image data output by the QVGA decoder310 is also intermittently acquired and included in the screen data. Ina case of reproduction, the AVC video file and the QVGA video fileoperated and selected through the operation unit 208 by the user arereproduced by the AVC decoder 309 and the QVGA decoder 310,respectively.

The QVGA video file can also be reproduced in a portable apparatus 311,such as a portable game console or a portable video reproductionapparatus, with limited hardware resources, since the screen size of thevideo data is small. Here, the file system 305 recognizes the portableapparatus 311 connected via a USB interface 312 as a detachable “USBstorage” and an application program is configured so that the QVGA videofile is moved from the storage 205 to the portable apparatus 311 whenthe user operates the operation unit 208.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the format of the MPEG-4 datastream with the QVGA size. Moreover, the format illustrated in thisschematic diagram is also the format of the QVGA video file.

The MPEG-4 data stream with the QVGA size includes a pair of timeinformation 401 and video data 402 frame by frame. The time information401 is information indicating time passing from the position of a headerof the video data stream. The video data 402 is data corresponding toone frame image.

The still image data 403 is still image data with the JPEG format andthe QVGA size, as described above, and is stored in a user area of theMPEG-4 format. The still image data 403 is formed for every fifteenframes, that is, for each GOP.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the content table 308.

A “program name” field stores a program name (title) of a recordedprogram.

A “recording time” field stores time information regarding the recordedprogram.

A “channel” field stores channel information regarding the recordedprogram.

A “recording mode” field stores information regarding a recordingquality of a video file of a recorded program and the size of a screen.

A “movable flag” field stores flag information indicating whether thevideo file of the recorded program is permitted to be moved from thestorage 205 to another portable apparatus 311.

A “file name” field stores the file name of a video file of the recordedprogram.

Film Roll Function

The recording apparatus 101 according to this embodiment has a functionof displaying a still image in real time at a predetermined timeinterval below a video of a television broadcast displayed by thedisplay unit 209 in the recording monitor.

Originally, this function is a function of generating still images at apredetermined time interval from a recorded video file and reproducing ascene of a recorded program desired to be viewed from an arbitraryreproduction position of the video file. The applicant calls thisfunction a “film roll function” in that a still image serving as anindex of a scene is displayed like a film.

The recording apparatus 101 according to the related art generates stillimages from a recorded video file after the recording is completed. Itis difficult to generate still images for estimating a scene during therecording since the processing capability (hardware specification) ofthe PC of the recording apparatus 101 is limited. In the recordingapparatus 101 according to this embodiment, however, the transcoder 213generates the MPEG-4 stream data with the QVGA size including the stillimage data with the JPEG format in real time.

When the still image data is decoded from the MPEG-4 stream data withthe QVGA size during the recording, a “film roll” can be formed in realtime during the recording monitoring.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a screen forming process performed bythe GUI generation unit 303 in the recording monitor.

When the process starts (S601), the GUI generation unit 303 initiallyacquires the time information 401 from the MPEG-4 stream data with theQVGA size (S602).

When the acquired time is “0 second”, that is, the initial time of therecording (YES in S603), the GUI generation unit 303 acquires the stillimage data 403 of the current frame (S604).

Next, the GUI generation unit 303 transcribes the current recording timein a variable “final still image time” provided in the RAM 204 (S605).Re-drawing of a film roll region 703 which is a collective of the stillimages serving as an index of a scene is performed (S606), and then theprocess ends (S607).

Even when the acquired time is not “0 second” in step S603, but when apredetermined time (n seconds) passes from the “final still image time”updated at step S605 (YES in S608), the processes of step S605 and S606end as in the case of step S604 and YES of step S603 (S607).

When the acquired time of step S602 does not pass from the “final stillimage time” updated at the time of step S605 by the predetermined time(n seconds) (NO in S608), the process ends without performing anyprocess (S607).

Although the process ends in step S607, the flow is returned to stepS601 and is repeated.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording motor screendisplayed on the display unit 209.

A video of a program being currently broadcasted is displayed on amonitor region 702 in the middle of the screen. The film roll region 703is displayed immediately below the monitor region 702. In the film rollregion 703, the still image data 403 acquired from the MPEG-4 streamdata with the QVGA size are further reduced and is arranged togetherwith the time information 401. In FIG. 7, the sill images are displayedat a 30-second interval in the film roll region 703.

A time line 704 indicating a current broadcast time is displayedimmediately below the film roll region 703. When recording is reserved,the current time indicates how many hours pass from the recording starttime since the recording time is known in advance.

An operation panel 705 is displayed immediately below the time line 704.Various kinds of operations are performed for the recording apparatus101 by clicking buttons displayed in the operation panel 705 with apointing device such as a mouse.

A recording monitor screen 701 in FIG. 7 is also used as a typicaltelevision viewing screen. In this case, the film roll region 703 is notdisplayed.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are schematic diagrams illustrating the film roll region703 varied during the recording. In FIGS. 8A to 8C, the still images aredisplayed at the 30-second interval; as in FIG. 7.

In FIG. 8A, a display state of the film roll region 703 is shown duringa recording period from 1 minute to 1 minute 28 seconds. In the filmroll region 703, the still images are displayed at the times of“00:00:00”, “00:00:29”, and “00:00:59”.

In FIG. 8B, a display state of the film roll region 703 is shown duringa recording period from 2 minutes to 2 minutes 28 seconds. In the filmroll region 703, the still images are displayed at the times of“00:01:29” and “00:01:59” in addition to “00:00:00”, “00:00:29”, and“00:00:59”.

At these times, the film roll region 703 is buried in the still imagewhich can be displayed. The still images after these times are displayedon the right end of the film roll region 703 and the still imagesdisplayed until then on the left end of the film roll region 703simultaneously disappear from the film roll region 703.

In FIG. 8C, a display state of the film roll region 703 is shown duringa recording period from 15 minutes 29 seconds to 15 minutes 58 seconds.During the recording, new still images are displayed from the right endof the film roll region 703 and the old still images simultaneouslydisappear from the left end of the film roll region 703. As aconsequence, in the film roll region 703, the still images are displayedat the times of “00:13:29”, “00:13:59”, “00:14:29”, “00:14:59”, and“00:15:29”.

The still images in the film roll region 703 displayed in this way serveas an index for “tracking reproduction” in which still images arereproduced from arbitrary reproduction positions in a video file beingrecorded.

The control unit 304 develops the still images and the time information401 corresponding to the still images into the RAM 204, when forming thefilm roll region 703. When the still image is clicked, the control unit304 reads the time information 401 corresponding to the clicked stillimage from the RAM 204, controls the AVC decoder 309, reads the AVCvideo file from the reproduction position of the designated timeinformation, and performs the reproduction process.

Video File Moving Function

In the recording apparatus 101 according to this embodiment, since thetranscoding unit 213 of the television tuner card 211 simultaneouslyperforms two kinds of transcoding processes, the transcoding unit 213can simultaneously generate the AVC video file with the full HD size andthe QVGA video file with the QVGA size with one recording. Of the videofiles, the QVGA video file can also be reproduced in the portableapparatus 311, such as a portable game console or a portable videoreproduction apparatus, with limited hardware resources.

Here, the file system 305 recognizes the portable apparatus 311connected as the detachable “USB storage” via the USB interface 312 andthe application program is configured so that the QVGA video file ismoved from the storage 205 to the portable apparatus 311 when the useroperates the operation unit 208.

At this time, it is necessary to clearly show the fact that “the QVGAvideo file is movable to the portable apparatus 311” and the fact that“a video file other than the QVGA video file is unmovable to theportable apparatus 311” on the GUI screen for the user.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a video list screen displayedon the display unit 209. When a “video list” button 706 displayed on theoperation panel 705 is pressed (clicked with the pointing device such asa mouse) in a state where the recording monitor screen 701 shown in FIG.7 or a typical television viewing screen is displayed, a video listscreen 901 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit 209.

An operation button region 902 is displayed above the video list screen901. As shown in FIG. 9, a “reproduction” button 902 a used to reproducea video file selected with a mouse or the like, a “program reservation”button 902 b used to perform recording reservation, a “custom automaticrecording” button 902 c used to automatically generate recordingreservation information of a program estimated to match preference of auser based on recording history information of the recording apparatus101 for the user and to show the recording reservation information tothe user, a “television” button 902 d used to view a television, a“program listing” button 902 e used to browse a program listing, and a“setting” button 902 f used to perform various kinds of settings of anapplication program are displayed in the operation button region 902.

A medium list region 903 is displayed on the lower left side of theoperation button region 902. A file list region 904 is displayed on theright side of the operation button region 902. When an icon displayed inthe medium list region 903 is clicked and selected, the icon and a titlecharacter is highlighted and displayed and the icons of the video filesassociated with the above icon are listed in the file list region 904.In FIG. 9, a “going-out program” icon 903 a is highlighted anddisplayed.

A “program” icon 903 b on the uppermost side is an icon that is used todisplay a list of the AVC video files on the file list region 904.

The “going-out program” icon 903 a is an icon that is used to display alist of the QVGA video files on the file list region 904.

A “portable apparatus” icon 903 c is an icon that is used to display thename of the portable apparatus 311 and the logic drive name on Windows(registered trademark) when the portable apparatus 311 is connected tothe USB interface 312 of the recording apparatus 101 and an icon used todisplay a list of the QVGA video files stored in the portable apparatus311 on the file list region 904 when the “portable apparatus” icon 903 cis clicked and selected. Moreover, the “portable apparatus” icon 903 cis not displayed in the medium list region 903, when the portableapparatus 311 is not connected to the recording apparatus 101.

A “favorites folder” icon 903 d is an icon that indicates a place wherethe AVC video files belonging to the “program” icon 903 b or the QVGAvideo files belonging to the “going-out program” icon 903 a are storedaccording to the preference of a user. When this icon is clicked, a listof the corresponding video files is displayed in the file list region904.

When the user clicks the icon of the medium list region 903 on the videolist screen 901 displayed by the GUI generation unit 303, the controlunit 304 determines the kind of video file associated with this icon andretrieves the content table 308.

When the user clicks the “program” icon 903 b, the control unit 304narrows down and retrieves a recording in which the value of the“movable flag” field of the content table 308 is a logic “false” andguides information displayed in the file list region 904 to the GUIgeneration unit 303 according to the details of the obtained record.

When the user clicks the “going-out program” icon 903 a, the controlunit 304 narrows down and retrieves a recording in which the value ofthe “movable flag” field of the content table 308 is a logic “true” andguides information displayed in the file list region 904 to the GUIgeneration unit 303 according to the details of the obtained record.

A status display region 905 is displayed below the file list region 904.In the status display region 905, there are displayed a “writingdestination” pull-down menu 905 a and a “transmission start” button 905b displayed only when the “going-out program” icon 903 a is highlightedand displayed in the medium list region 903 by clicking and selectingthe “going-out program” icon 903 a; and a capacity indication bar 905 ctypically displayed irrespective of the selection status of the mediumlist region 903.

As described above, FIG. 9 shows the video list screen 901 in which the“going-out program” icon 903 a is highlighted and displayed. In thisstate, when one or the plurality of QVGA video files displayed in thefile list region 904 is clicked and selected, the icon of the selectedQVGA video file is highlighted and displayed.

When the portable apparatus 311 now displayed in the “writingdestination” pull-down menu 905 a of the status display region 905 andcurrently connected to the recording apparatus 101 is selected and the“transmission start” button 905 b is pressed down in the state where theicon of the QVGA video file is highlighted and displayed, the controlunit 304 reads the selected QVGA video file from the content table 308,confirms the recording in which the value of the “movable flag” field is“true”, and then moves the selected QVGA video file to the storage 205(not shown) of the designated portable apparatus 311. At this time, thecontrol unit 304 also moves the recording corresponding to the QVGAvideo file of the content table 308 to a portable content table (notshown) formed in the storage 205 (not shown) provided within theportable apparatus 311.

When the “going-out program” icon 903 a shown in FIG. 9 is highlightedand displayed, the selected QVGA video file may be moved to the portableapparatus 311 by directly dragging and dropping the icon of the QVGAvideo file displayed in the file list region 904 to the “portableapparatus” icon 903 c.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a video list screen 901displayed on the display unit 209. FIG. 10 shows the “program” icon 903b of the medium list region 903 which is clicked so as to be highlightedand displayed in the video list screen 901 shown in FIG. 9.

This video list screen is similar to the video list screen shown in FIG.9. However, the control unit 304 controls the GUI generation unit 303 sothat the “writing destination” pull-down menu 905 a and the“transmission start” button 905 b are not displayed in the statusdisplay region 905 when the “program” icon 903 b is clicked. Therefore,the icon displayed in the file list region 904 is an icon that indicatesthe AVC video file and this AVC video file is unmovable to the portableapparatus 311. In order to indicate that the AVC video file is unmovableto the portable apparatus 311, in the status display region 905, the“writing destination” pull-down menu 905 a and the “transmission start”button 905 b are not displayed and the “portable apparatus” icon 903 cis faintly displayed in the medium list region 903.

Accordingly, even when the icon of the AVC video file displayed in thefile list region 904 is clicked, the AVC video file is unmovable to theportable apparatus 311 due to the fact that the “transmission start”button 905 b is not displayed. Moreover, even when the icon of the AVCvideo file is dragged and dropped to the “portable apparatus” icon 903c, the control unit 304 confirms that the value of the “movable flag”field of the AVC video file associated with the icon is “false” and thusperforms an animation display indicating that the AVC video file isunmovable and showing that the icon is returned to the originalposition.

This embodiment may be modified as follows.

(1) The reduced video data file is not limited to the QVGA video file.Similarly, the standard video data file is not limited to the AVC videofile. A general H.264 is used in a codec of these video files, butvarious codecs such as WMV, VP6, and Theora may be used. Likewise, thecontainer is not limited to the MP4 container, but various videocontainer formats such as AVI, Ogg, Matroska, 3 GPP, and 3GPP2 may beused.

(2) In the recording apparatus according to this embodiment, thetranscoder 213 is a hardware unit that performs video transcoding of aspecific format. The plurality of codecs or containers described abovemay be selected by using FPGA in the transcoder 213 so as to beprogrammable.

In this embodiment, the recording apparatus has been disclosed.

Tracking reproduction may be realized by using a hardware transcodercapable of performing a transcoding process on the AVC video file andthe QVGA video file, in which the still images are buried, in real timefrom the digital video stream data received through digital TV broadcastwaves and subjected to decoding and by updating the display of the filmroll region 703 in real time during the recording monitoring. Therefore,convenience of television recoding is considerably improved in therecording apparatus according to this embodiment. Moreover, since thestate of the recording progress is visually displayed for a user byupdating the display of the film roll region 703 in real time during therecording monitoring, visual enjoyment can be provided.

By performing the recording just once, the recording apparatus accordingto this embodiment can simultaneously generate the AVC video fileunmovable to a portable apparatus and the QVGA video file movable to aportable apparatus. That is, two kinds of video files with completelythe same program name can be generated by performing the recording once.Therefore, it is necessary to provide a user interface so that a userdoes not erroneously select the video file when the user moves the videofile to a portable apparatus. Accordingly, in the recording apparatusaccording to this embodiment, the content table is provided with a flagfield indicating whether the video file is movable to the portableapparatus and a video file selection screen is distinguished based onthe flag field. In the recording apparatus according to this embodiment,since a user enjoying video play with a portable apparatus can simplymove the video file without erroneous selection of the video file,better convenience can be provided for the user.

The present application contains subject matter related to thatdisclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2010-098823 filedin the Japan Patent Office on Apr. 22, 2010, the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A file management apparatus comprising: a display unit; an operationunit; a storage which stores first files movable to a portable apparatusand second files unmovable to the portable apparatus; an interface towhich the portable apparatus is connected and through which the firstfiles are moved between the storage and the portable apparatus; and acontrol unit which displays a list of the first files on the displayunit when the operation unit operates a first operation and displays alist of the second files on the display unit when the operation unitoperates a second operation and which generates a graphical userinterface to display an operation button, which is used to move thefirst files to the portable apparatus, on the display unit, when theportable apparatus is connected to the interface.
 2. The file managementapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a tuner unit whichreceives a television broadcast and outputs a reception video datastream; a reduction transcoding unit which outputs a reduced video datastream with an image size reduced from an image size of the receptionvideo data stream; and a standard transcoding unit which outputs arecording video data stream with a screen size larger than that of thereduced video data stream from the reception video data stream, whereinthe first file is a reduced video data file, wherein the second file isa standard video data file with an image size larger than that of thereduced video data file, and wherein the storage stores the reducedvideo data stream as the reduced video data file movable to the portableapparatus and stores the recording video data stream as the standardvideo data file unmovable to the portable apparatus.
 3. The filemanagement apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a contenttable which is formed in the storage and which includes a program namefield storing a program name of the television broadcast, a recordingtime field storing a recording time at which the television broadcast isrecorded in the storage using the reduced transcoding unit and/or thestandard transcoding unit, a file name field storing a file name of thereduced video data file or the standard video data file, and a movableflag field storing information indicating that the reduced video datafile is movable to the portable apparatus and the standard video datafile is unmovable to the portable apparatus, wherein the control unitdisplays a list of the standard video data files on the display unitbased on a recording obtained by narrowing down and retrieving thecontent table in the movable flag field when the operation unit operatesthe first operation, whereas the control unit displays a list of thereduced video data files on the display unit based on the recordingobtained by narrowing down and retrieving the content table in themovable flag field when the operation unit operates the secondoperation.
 4. The file management apparatus according to claim 3,wherein when the operation unit operates a third operation of draggingand dropping an icon of the standard video data file to an icon of theportable apparatus displayed on the display unit from the list of thestandard video data files displayed on the display unit, the controlunit confirms that a value of the movable flag field of the recording ofthe content table associated with the icon of the standard video datafile is a logic false and displays a ban on movement of the standardvideo data file associated with the icon of the standard video data fileon the display unit.
 5. A recording apparatus comprising: a tuner unitwhich receives a television broadcast and outputs a reception video datastream; a reduction transcoding unit which outputs a reduced video datastream with an image size reduced from an image size of the receptionvideo data stream; a standard transcoding unit which outputs a recordingvideo data stream with a screen size larger than that of the reducedvideo data stream from the reception video data stream; a storage whichstores the reduced video data stream as a reduced video data filemovable to a portable apparatus and stores the recording video datastream as a standard video data file unmovable to the portableapparatus; an interface to which the portable apparatus is connected andthrough which the reduced video data file is moved between the storageand the portable apparatus; a display unit; an operation unit; and acontrol unit which displays a list of the standard video data files onthe display unit when the operation unit operates a first operation anddisplays a list of the reduced video data files on the display unit whenthe operation unit operates a second operation and which generates agraphical user interface to display an operation button, which is usedto move the reduced video data files to the portable apparatus, on thedisplay unit, when the portable apparatus is connected to the interface.6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: acontent table which is formed in the storage and which includes aprogram name field storing a program name of the television broadcast, arecording time field storing a recording time at which the televisionbroadcast is recorded in the storage using the reduced transcoding unitand/or the standard transcoding unit, a file name field storing a filename of the reduced video data file or the standard video data file, anda movable flag field storing information indicating that the reducedvideo data file is movable to the portable apparatus and the standardvideo data file is unmovable to the portable apparatus, wherein thecontrol unit displays a list of the standard video data files on thedisplay unit based on a recording obtained by narrowing down andretrieving the content table in the movable flag field when theoperation unit operates the first operation, whereas the control unitdisplays a list of the reduced video data files on the display unitbased on the recording obtained by narrowing down and retrieving thecontent table in the movable flag field when the operation unit operatesthe second operation.
 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6,wherein when the operation unit operates a third operation of draggingand dropping an icon of the standard video data file to an icon of theportable apparatus displayed on the display unit from the list of thestandard video data files displayed on the display unit, the controlunit confirms that a value of the movable flag field of the recording ofthe content table associated with the icon of the standard video datafile is a logic false and displays a ban on movement of the standardvideo data file associated with the icon of the standard video data fileon the display unit.
 8. A recording program causing a computer includinga tuner unit which receives a television broadcast and outputs areception video data stream, a reduction transcoding unit which outputsa reduced video data stream with an image size reduced from an imagesize of the reception video data stream, a standard transcoding unitwhich outputs a recording video data stream with a screen size largerthan that of the reduced video data stream from the reception video datastream, a storage which stores the reduced video data stream as areduced video data file movable to a portable apparatus and stores therecording video data stream as a standard video data file unmovable tothe portable apparatus, a display unit, an operation unit, and aninterface to which the portable apparatus is connected and through whichthe reduced video data file is moved between the storage and theportable apparatus, to operate a recording apparatus including a controlunit which displays a list of the standard video data files on thedisplay unit when the operation unit operates a first operation anddisplays a list of the reduced video data files on the display unit whenthe operation unit operates a second operation and which generates agraphical user interface to display an operation button, which is usedto move the reduced video data files to the portable apparatus, on thedisplay unit, when the portable apparatus is connected to the interface.9. The recoding program according to claim 8, further causing thecomputer to operate as the recording apparatus further including acontent table which is formed in the storage and which includes aprogram name field storing a program name of the television broadcast, arecording time field storing a recording time at which the televisionbroadcast is recorded in the storage using the reduced transcoding unitand/or the standard transcoding unit, a file name field storing a filename of the reduced video data file or the standard video data file, anda movable flag field storing information indicating that the reducedvideo data file is movable to the portable apparatus and the standardvideo data file is unmovable to the portable apparatus, wherein thecontrol unit displays a list of the standard video data files on thedisplay unit based on a recording obtained by narrowing down andretrieving the content table in the movable flag field when theoperation unit operates the first operation, whereas the control unitdisplays a list of the reduced video data files on the display unitbased on the recording obtained by narrowing down and retrieving thecontent table in the movable flag field when the operation unit operatesthe second operation.
 10. The recording program according to claim 9,wherein when the operation unit operates a third operation of draggingand dropping an icon of the standard video data file to an icon of theportable apparatus displayed on the display unit from the list of thestandard video data files displayed on the display unit, the controlunit confirms that a value of the movable flag field of the recording ofthe content table associated with the icon of the standard video datafile is a logic false and displays a ban on movement of the standardvideo data file associated with the icon of the standard video data fileon the display unit.
 11. A file management program causing a computerincluding a display unit, an operation unit, a storage which storesfirst files movable to a portable apparatus and second files unmovableto the portable apparatus, and an interface to which the portableapparatus is connected and through which the first files are movedbetween the storage and the portable apparatus, to operate as a filemanagement apparatus including a control unit which displays a list ofthe first files on the display unit when the operation unit operates afirst operation and displays a list of the second files on the displayunit when the operation unit operates a second operation and whichgenerates a graphical user interface to display an operation button,which is used to move the first files to the portable apparatus, on thedisplay unit, when the portable apparatus is connected to the interface.12. The file management program according to claim 11, further causingthe computer to operate as the file management apparatus furtherincluding a tuner unit which receives a television broadcast and outputsa reception video data stream, a reduction transcoding unit whichoutputs a reduced video data stream with an image size reduced from animage size of the reception video data stream, and a standardtranscoding unit which outputs a recording video data stream with ascreen size larger than that of the reduced video data stream from thereception video data stream, wherein the first file is a reduced videodata file, wherein the second file is a standard video data file with animage size larger than that of the reduced video data file, and whereinthe storage stores the reduced video data stream as the reduced videodata file movable to the portable apparatus and stores the recordingvideo data stream as the standard video data file unmovable to theportable apparatus.
 13. The file management program according to claim12, further causing the program to operate as the file managementapparatus further including a content table which is formed in thestorage and which includes a program name field storing a program nameof the television broadcast, a recording time field storing a recordingtime at which the television broadcast is recorded in the storage usingthe reduced transcoding unit and/or the standard transcoding unit, afile name field storing a file name of the reduced video data file orthe standard video data file, and a movable flag field storinginformation indicating that the reduced video data file is movable tothe portable apparatus and the standard video data file is unmovable tothe portable apparatus, wherein the control unit displays a list of thestandard video data files on the display unit based on a recordingobtained by narrowing down and retrieving the content table in themovable flag field when the operation unit operates the first operation,whereas the control unit displays a list of the reduced video data fileson the display unit based on the recording obtained by narrowing downand retrieving the content table in the movable flag field when theoperation unit operates the second operation.
 14. The file managementprogram according to claim 13, wherein when the operation unit operatesa third operation of dragging and dropping an icon of the standard videodata file to an icon of the portable apparatus displayed on the displayunit from the list of the standard video data files displayed on thedisplay unit, the control unit confirms that a value of the movable flagfield of the recording of the content table associated with the icon ofthe standard video data file is a logic false and displays a ban onmovement of the standard video data file associated with the icon of thestandard video data file on the display unit.